Home sweet home

Last Wednesday I flew home from Germany. I was happy to come home, but I was sad to leave John for a month. He waited in line with me at the airport and didn't leave until I had to go through security. It was nice to have him here, because I was getting a little flustered with the intense security measures in the airport. It was such a long travel day home...between flights and layovers, I traveled for 20 hours. I took a shuttle home and got there around 1am. I only slept about two hours on the plane, so I was exhausted when I got home, and was able to sleep 5 hours that night.

I had to get up in the morning for an appointment for my hip. I was referred to a guy in Sacramento, and ended up finding out some good news. There are new codes coming out in January on different surgeries, which means that it will be different on the payment sheet that insurances get. The doctor seemed confident that because of the new code this surgery will be assigned, my insurance will have to cover it. He scheduled my surgery for January 18th. I was pretty happy to get the news, although I'm praying it all works out. I will be on crutches for 2-4 weeks and then have physical therapy. I'm just glad that it is finally getting taken care of, after dealing with this for over a year. John should be home by then, which is good, since I need someone to take me to the appointment.

I got my hair cut and ran errands for the four days I was there, and although I was excited to be home, I couldn't wait to leave again on Monday to come to WA because there were MICE in my house. It was awful. At first they were only in the kitchen, then they moved above the ceiling, and I could hear them walking around. I was SO grossed out and tense the whole time I was home. I set some traps, but I guess they didn't work. I finally called the landlord Sunday night and left a message, then called again yesterday, and I still haven't heard from him. We are not happy renting from them. It's been really frustrating. I'm definitely not going home until there's been an exterminator there. I was also really jet-lagged which made things not as enjoyable, but I'm finally feeling somewhat back to normal.

It was really fun to be back in WA with my family on Monday (by the way, it's really weird not knowing anyone in CA yet to take me to the airport...these shuttles are getting expensive). My brother and his family came over to make gingerbread houses and have dinner. We also played dress-up and watched a movie (they were being unusually It was a really fun day.

 

I'll be spending the rest of my time here catching up with friends and hanging out with my family, baking and Hallmark Christmas movies. Merry Christmas!

Bern, Switzerland

Bern was also very cute. It also had lots of unattainable shopping, and only took a couple hours to walk through.


We couldn't find a meal under $20, so we found another Migros deli at the train station and got some cheap sandwiches. Then our train was canceled, so we had to wait an hour for the next one. We had a couple transfers and once we got to Mannheim, we had a 45 minute layover. We found a different train that went to Kaiserslautern (where we wanted to go) that left earlier and got us back a little sooner. After taking it, John realized that we had to get off a few stops down and transfer. We got off and ended up having to wait a half hour outside for the next train at a small station - it was freezing! We should have waited for the other train at the station (inside) in Bern.

So we finally got to Kaiserslautern (15 minutes from Landstuhl where we planned to walk to our apt), and the train there was 15 minutes late. It finally came and said that it was done for the night (even though it was supposed to go one more time). We were cold, tired, and frustrated, and got a taxi which ended up costing us $35 to go to Landstuhl! The good thing was that a German girl told us (at the train station) that we could turn in our receipt to the Bahn and possibly get reimbursed for the taxi since the train schedule made us too late to catch our last train. Hopefully that will work out. I sat in the taxi, zoning out with weariness, hearing John's gum smacking in the background, wondering why taxi drivers get to drive as crazy and fast as they want without any consequence. Do you ever see taxis getting pulled over? I've never seen it. We got home at 1:15am. It was nice to sleep in today!

Two more days until I fly home!

Zurich, Switzerland

On Saturday we took the train to Zurich, which took about 5 hours. It was nice for John to be able to take the train instead of driving. He even wrote our Christmas letter. We didn't do a good job finding our hotel when we got off the train, and walked out of the way for awhile, tired and having to go to the bathroom badly. This seems to be my life story lately! I am always so uncomfortable while trying to find a bathroom. Anyway, we finally found the hotel and it ended up being nice. Nothing in Zurich is cheap (it was pretty shocking how much everything was), but we got a good deal for what it was. It was also close to a Starbucks (like basically next door), which John loved. I loved it too, for the "free" internet (free as in "buy a cup of coffee" free), since we didn't have any at our hotel. We were pretty tired at that point, but we decided to go check out downtown and get dinner, even though it might be too dark to see anything. I'm really glad we did, because the city was so lit up. Saw the most amazing lights I'd ever seen. We walked down the main street (upmarket shopping) called Bahnhofstrasse.

Outside the train station.

After getting pizza at Migros (a grocery store that had a cheaper deli), we went back to the hotel to relax. I got to take a bath and finish my book which was so nice. Funny how the little things mean a lot when you don't have them on a regular basis. The next day we walked around Zurich. It was really pretty to see, with lots of shopping, but nothing we could afford! And, lots of watches, of course. It was enough just to see it, though.

Grossmunster church (two towers).
Grossmunster up close.
St. Peters Kirche (the right tower).
St. Peters Kirche again.

We read that Cafe Schober was famous for serving big mugs of hot chocolate, so we had to go find it (at least I did!). It ended up being really really, I mean really cute. There were three seating areas inside, and one of them was a small, dark rosey pink, intimate room with twinkly lights that had so much ambiance you could cut it with a knife. I really wanted to eat there, but we didn't have time (plus I was looking like a total tourist with my huge camera, which is why I didn't get a picture of it...too many stares), so we had some hot chocolate outside in those comfy chairs.
Inside of the cafe, selling so many sweets. I was trying not to use the flash so I wouldn't be so obvious taking pictures. It was so cute.
This is my $9 hot chocolate. I know...crazy. We didn't even check the prices and were shocked when the waitress brought the bill. But it is an experience I will never forget. They bring you warm milk and a little piece of chocolate on the side so you can mix it in the milk. Pretty tasty.

We had planned on taking a late train to Bern, Switzerland that evening to spend the night and see it the next day, but we decided we had seen enough in Zurich to leave that afternoon and see Bern the same day. Thus saving $200 on a hotel and gaining an extra day at the apt for some homework time and relaxation. We went back to the hotel to get our bags and took the hour train ride to Bern.

Munich, Germany

Munich was a fun city, especially with all the Christmas markets set up. We woke up and saw sun, which was a nice surprise. It got gray a couple hours later, but the blue skies were fun for awhile. It was in the 40's that day, so it felt a lot better. We had a good day and then drove 4 hours back to the apt. One more trip before I leave!

Potato cakes

Prague, Czech Republic

So...we wanted to go to Prague, even though it was supposed to start snowing the day we went (which we found out from someone as we were leaving). We had to do some stuff on base before we left, so we didn't leave until the afternoon, which we later regretted. It was supposed to be a six hour drive...turned into nine hours, most of which were stressful. It took us awhile to find the hotel because it wasn't marked very well, and by the time we parked and got to our room, we were exhausted. We were also a little paranoid about someone taking the car because we'd heard so much hype about car theft in Prague. Anyway, the next day, we went out to see things for a few hours. We never have a lot of time in each city, so we stick to the main city center area and the super touristy things.

Prague was beautiful, but we didn't go at the best time of the year. The fog was really bad, so it was hard to see a lot of the buildings, especially off the bridge. I can see how it would be even cooler in the summer. There was a lot of snow on the sidewalks, and we walked a long ways, so my hip was hurting quite a bit. I had to take off a glove each time to take a picture, so my fingers were freezing! It was a long day, but worth it to see it.

The Charles BridgeView from the bridge

While it was great being able to see Prague, we started experiencing a traveling burn out on this trip. We have packed in A LOT in the last two months, and it's starting to catch up with us. Especially on John, since he doesn't get a lot of down time. After seeing Prague, we drove 4 hours to Munich.

Paris, France

Going to Paris was a pretty surreal experience. I still don't think it's sunk in that we were actually there. Because John has between 1 and 3 days off at a time, we have to fit in a lot in a short amount of time. It's a blessing to be able to see all of these places, but gets tiring trying to plan so much to fit in one day. Of course, it was worth it to see Paris. We took the train there, and then got a subway pass for the day, which allowed us to hit all the high points in the seven hours we ended up having (the train was delayed from the weather).

Us on the train. It was SO cold waiting for it outside!
The Louvre

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace. It is estimated to have been created around 190 BC.

Venus de Milo. Created at some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty.And...The Mona Lisa.

Outside The Louvre again.

The Palace Gardens
Next we went to The Arc de Triomphe, (in English: "Triumphal Arch"), which honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Underneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. It is the second largest triumphal arch in existence.
Notre Dame Cathedral (we've run across quite a few with that name...).
Named for its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.

Views from the Eiffel Tower.